Cambridge native present during Ohio State University attack recalls military training

COLUMBUS -- Details continue to emerge in the Ohio State University attack Monday in which 11 people were injured.

Authorities report that Somali-born Abdul Razak Ali Artan drove an automobile shortly before 10 a.m. into a crowd of his fellow university students near Watts Hall before emerging and stabbing more with a butcher knife.

The rampage was reportedly quelled within two minutes, when Ohio State Police Officer Alan Horujko fatally shot Artan, delivering three rounds, after he reportedly failed to obey orders to cease.

However, as details of the attack remained unknown at the time -- including the possibility of a second attacker -- the university issued a safety alert to students. Among those on campus was 25-year-old Bobby Fair, a native of Cambridge and a 2010 graduate of John Glenn High School.

"We were in class," Fair said. "A completely normal day, completely normal Monday. Out of nowhere I get a text message from my girlfriend saying, 'Hey, there's something going on with campus right now. They're telling us to stay inside.' I really didn't think anything of it.

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"And then I heard a student say, 'Oh my goodness! Someone was just shot outside!'"

The reality struck Fair, as he sat with about three dozen other students in an economics class in McPherson Laboratory, that a crisis was unfolding.

"At that moment I thought to myself, 'This is the real deal! This is not a drill,'" he said.

The sophomore business major served four years on active duty in the Marine Corps as an amphibious assault vehicle crewman, and an additional two years in the Reserves as an infantryman, attaining the rank of sergeant. His training deeply embedded in his mind, he did not hesitate to act.

"So I immediately ordered them to start making a barricade," Fair said. "I asked some other kids to help me get that barricade constructed. And then I made all the other students go to the side of the classroom completely away from all the windows, get low, get down, get out of sight.

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"After everything was said and done I was just trying to keep them calm, keep them engaged so they didn't start panicking."

Fair attributed his level-headed response during the uncertainty to his military training.

"We have got so much training in active shooter situations," he said. "They say in a stressful situation, when you lose your mind, you always resort to your lowest level of training. I think that's what happened."

More active shooter training should be offered in schools and on college campuses, Fair said.

According to Fair's mother, Jamie Larson, his response during the crisis is consistent with his character.

"Bobby has been to five continents during his service with the Marine Corps, and I spent a lot of time worrying about him during his deployments. I never thought I'd have to worry about something happening to him while attending school at OSU," she said.

"However, he's a born leader, and I know that his military training will always be with him. I'm just lucky that I get to be his mom."

Fair is the son of Daniel Larson of Cambridge, and the late Robert Fair Sr., and the grandson of Larry Peters of Byesville.